Baby's Sick Room : Part 2

The Mother and Her Child
by William S. Sadler, M.D., Lena K. Sadler, M.D.

(Page 27 of 41)

It is not at all necessary to have vessels containing disinfectant substances standing about the room and in the closet. In a room adjoining should be kept all of the dishes used by the sick patient, his tray, half a dozen napkins, knife, fork, spoon, serving dishes, drinking glass, pitcher, etc. All bedding and all linen used by the sick member should be allowed to stand in a solution of disinfectant for several hours when they may be wrung out of the solution, dropped into a bucket and carried to the laundry without any danger to other members of the family.

The nurse is not allowed to leave this room in the garments that are worn while caring for the sick. She should have her meals in an adjoining room which is also under strict isolation.

The Medicine Chest

The sick room medicine chest should be so placed on the wall that it is outside the reach of the smaller members of the family, for in it should be placed poisons for external use that are capable of producing death if taken internally. Bottles that hold these poisons - such as bichlorid of mercury, Lysol, carbolic acid, laudanum, paregoric, belladonna, etc. - should be so different from the other bottles in the medicine chest that if one should reach for them with his eyes shut or in the dark he would at once recognize that he had hold of a poison bottle. This is absolutely necessary. It usually means a bit of extra expense, but when we realize what tragedies may be avoided by such slight expense, it must not be considered.

Bottles may be procured that have been molded with points of glass projecting from the outside which make them rough to the touch, or they may be covered with a wire mesh or with a wicker covering which may easily be told from the other bottles in the case.

One woman lost her life because the nurse placed two ounces of carbolic acid in the enema instead of two ounces of saline solution. Saline solution is nothing but salt and water, while carbolic acid cost the woman her life, simply because the carbolic acid was not placed in a specialized poison bottle and the attendant could not read the label in the dark.

Under no circumstances keep from one year to another the remnants of unused medicine of a former sickness, for medicines do not keep well and often lose their strength if kept longer than the physician intended.

Patent Medicines

Aside from the giving of castor oil and the application of Vaseline to the nose, or of applying boric acid to the eyes, no medicine should be administered to the baby without competent medical advice. There are numerous widely advertised nostrums frequently sold as soothing syrups to be used during the teething or during attacks of diarrhea, or cough spasms, croup, or worms, that contain dangerous drugs and should not be given to children. Many well-meaning but ignorant mothers are slowly but surely laying the foundations for serious nervous disorders and are often making veritable dope fiends out of their children. Patent medicines are dangerous things in the hands of the people; if we are going to give medicines to our little babies let us at least know what we are giving. Let some conscientious, scientific physician examine the baby and prescribe for its needs.

If urged to use a patent medicine, examine the label carefully, for the Federal Food and Drug Act requires the manufacturer of patent medicines to print plainly on the label of the bottle the name and amount of certain dangerous drugs which it may contain.

The drugs mentioned in this drug act and which are often used in patent medicine nostrums are, chloral hydrate, cocaine, heroin, chloroform, opium, morphine, alcohol, cannabis indicia, or any derivative or preparation of any such substance contained therein.

There are many other drugs sold on the market containing syrups or flavoring materials which may do harm - which may upset the baby's digestion.

Mothers avoid patent medicines. Consult your physician. Never give a baby any sort of medicine to induce sleep. Unless babies are sick or spoiled or hungry, they will go to sleep of themselves, and even in the days of a high fever a wet-sheet pack seldom ever fails to put the baby to sleep and can do no harm if properly given.

This may be as good a place as any to mention the dosage of castor oil which is as follows:

Up to three months, 1/2 teaspoon. From three to six months, 1 teaspoon. From six to nine months, 1½ teaspoons. From nine to twelve months, 1 dessert spoon (2 teaspoons). From twelve months on, 1 to 2 tablespoons.

After The Sickness Is Over

The physician will direct when the disinfectant bath is to be given to the patient previous to his liberation from isolation. The different diseases demand different treatment, but, on the whole, it is about as follows:

The day before the boy is to be allowed to go out among the family once more he receives a soap wash, clean sheet and bedding on the bed, and puts on clean garments. The following morning, his head thoroughly shampooed, his nails manicured, a second soap wash is given followed by a weak bichlorid bath (1 to 10,000 solution) which is followed by an alcohol rub. He is then allowed to go out of the sick room which is now to be thoroughly disinfected and fumigated.

After the illness is over, the sick room and the adjoining closets and ante rooms must be thoroughly disinfected or fumigated. If you are located in a city, the health authorities will do this after an infectious or contagious disease. Away from such conveniences, use the following method:

Place two ounces of crystals of permanganate of potash in a pan and have a pint bottle of formalin near by. Everything in the room is now exposed, dresser drawers are opened, all bedding, all garments - in fact everything that is in the room - is put in such a position as to be readily exposed to the fumes which are to follow. A line should be stretched across the room over which are thrown the bedding, garments, etc. The cracks of the windows and doors, except the one door of exit, are now sealed up with paper which has been dipped in green soap, and having the paper strips and pan of green soap ready just outside the exit door, the formalin is now poured over the permanganate crystals.

Fumes will immediately arise and permeate every corner, crack and crevice of the sick room. Now quickly make your exit, close the door and seal up key hole and cracks and space under the door with paper dipped in green soap. Leave the room for six hours. After this with a well-moistened cloth to the nose, rush in and throw the windows open, hurry out and allow the room to air from twelve to twenty-four hours, after which wash woodwork and painted walls or take paper off and repaper walls; recalcimine ceilings and closets; scrub closet shelves and dresser drawers, bedsteads, and other furniture thoroughly. If the mattress is old throw it away, but if not, sun it for several days following the fumigation.

About the Author

Dr. William S. Sadler M.D. was a well-known American psychiatrist and college teacher in the school of medicine at the University of Chicago. For over sixty years he practiced his profession in Chicago, thirty-three years being associated in practice with his wife, Dr Lena Kellogg Sadler. The doctors were pioneers in the research on the mysterious Urantia Papers.